


Undertale Works to Appreciate

by ArgentDandelion



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Fan Comics, Fannish Nonfiction, Gen, Nonfiction, Recommendations, Reviews
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-22
Updated: 2019-05-22
Packaged: 2020-09-27 06:35:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20403286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArgentDandelion/pseuds/ArgentDandelion
Summary: Contains nine brief reviews and recommendations for Undertale fan works, mostly comics. While this post itself is for all audiences, some of the works referenced contain swearing, blood, and major character deaths and may not be suitable for all audiences. (Adapted for Archive of Our Own.)





	Undertale Works to Appreciate

If you’re an _Undertale_ fan with a whole lot of time, look no further, for these are nine people whose works you can appreciate.

* * *

## CleverCatchphrase ([Ghost Switch](https://clevercatchphrase.tumblr.com/tagged/Ghost+Switch/chrono/))

**Description:**

Everybody can be a good person if they try…but what if they weren’t allowed to try? What if that good decision wasn’t even theirs? Can people still be good if they never even had a choice?

**Review:**

At only 49 pages in, the comic is presently establishing world-building and plot points that will take effect later. Though it broadly follows the in-game course of events, the fact the talking flower isn’t who you’d expect gives the character a lot more characterization early on. This flower doesn’t disappear after getting attacked by Toriel, instead following and conversing with Frisk as they go through the Ruins. Yet, soon after Frisk fell in, they were killed instantly with a seed-shaped bullet, so one wonders what the flower’s true motivations are.

* * *

## Bunnikkila ([Underrift](https://underrift.tumblr.com/))

**Description:** The monsters are free. The resets are over. But is the damage to the timeline erased? Stalled? Or still deteriorating?

**Review:**  
_Underrift_’s plot is intriguing and filled with mystery. It has bright, full-color pages, and a line-less stylistic shift for scenes in the non-place of the void. It also features a Sans backstory, linking him (through multiple possibilities) to the mysterious W.D. Gaster, the former royal scientist scattered through time and space.

* * *

## Spookmoose ([ZombieTale](https://ztcomic.tumblr.com/tagged/ztcomic/chrono/))

**Description:**

Frisk should not have survived that fall. ZombieTale is a slow-burning work about a zombie Frisk bringing a zombie apocalypse to the Underground, with all the horror and despair that entails.

**Review:**

Artistically, this isn’t what you’d expect when hearing “zombie apocalypse story that also takes place in an underground world of monsters.” Yet, the art works very well; it’s like a blend of Disney’s Frozen (with its indigo/purple/pink-dominant palette) and the 1500s-woodcut-esque art from The Last Apprentice, an old-timey horror book series. Through its texture, palette, and lighting choices, the style conveys isolation and paranoia. Even at its brightest and most colorful there’s a feeling something is not quite safe, not quite right.

Though Frisk is a pandemic-spreading zombie, they’re remarkably sympathetic. While distanced and un-affectionate, one can tell they’re just very hungry and in great pain. As they eat (and infect) more and more monsters, they become slightly less mindless, and able to feel regret for their actions, but are still unable to stop themselves in their pain and hunger.

* * *

## C-Puff ([Time Scar](https://time-scar-webcomic.tumblr.com/))

**Description:**

One day Sans wakes up with a huge scar on his body, one that definitely wasn’t there yesterday. And now Sans must keep an eye(socket) on not one, but two humans. What do they want? Keeping that promise to Toriel is going to be harder than he thought…

**Review:**

Time Scar, a largely black-and-white comic, has crisp lineart and often detailed backgrounds. The trees of Snowdin are especially remarkable in their detail and abundance, and furniture, houses and other boxy objects are perfectly rendered. One can guess at where Sans’ mysterious scar came from; nonetheless readers will be intrigued and want to know exactly what caused it. Adding on to this mystery is why there are two humans: one innocent, another sinister.

* * *

## Undertalethingems ([Unexpected Guests](https://undertalethingems.tumblr.com/tagged/unexpected-guests-comic/chrono))

**Description:**

Papyrus messes up his special attack, and shenanigans ensue. But there’s always more to the story, and skeletal dragons are just the beginning.

**Review:**

The artist is quite skilled at drawing skeletons; Sans’ and Papyrus’ special attacks (which manifested as draconic skeletons) showcase this well. Though largely monochrome, The artist is also remarkably good at drawing Toriel: her look is a perfect blend of an old lady, a mother and a goatlike monster. Asgore is similarly well-drawn, which is especially notable since so many fans find him difficult to draw.

* * *

## WolvenOne ([Long Road](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Farchiveofourown.org%2Fworks%2F6499498%2Fchapters%2F14877961%23_%3D_&t=ZjhhY2ZkNDJkZTNjNjk1ODUzMzljYzY5Y2QzNjhhMDViMjg3ODkzYSwwUEZONnBvUQ%3D%3D&b=t%3AHZZTbr56CX-Pu8cYzedJTw&p=https%3A%2F%2Fargentdandelion.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F185055160571%2Fundertale-fans-to-throw-money-at&m=1))

  
(From an associated mini-comic. Lineart and shading by [smieska-draws](https://smieska-draws.tumblr.com/))

**Description:**

It’s been a year since happily ever after. But, as the latest anti-monster conflict proves, happy endings are not one-time events: they must be constantly maintained. For one particular disturbed flower, happily ever after after is still far away, but that doesn’t mean he must travel the long road to recovery alone.

**Review:**

_(Note: Frisk and Chara are both a “she” in this work, for those who don’t like that.)_ This fanfiction excels in characterization and plot. The work is tonally versatile: its moments vary from quiet, to tense, to action-packed and cinematic. While Asriel-saving works are practically a subgenre in itself, the work nonetheless finds a way to make it unique with the angle of Flowey’s gradual recovery with soul-regeneration medication. Long Road’s human characters, including its new ones, also have well-developed personalities.

* * *

## Kaitogirl ([Kaitogirl’s Underfell](https://hiimtryingtounderfell.tumblr.com/comic))

**Description:**

One work based on the community-owned Underfell AU setting. A human child falls into an underground realm of bitter, cynical monsters who want revenge on humanity, but nonetheless cheers up their lives as they try to return home.

**Review:**

**(Warning: Has blood and swearing)** As expected for Underfell, red and black are common colors in this work. But, rather than making everything red and black, colors are often altered to darker, redder and duller shades than in canon. In fact, one could also accurately describe this as “that purple Underfell”: this color-altering often results in shades that are broadly purple. Or, perhaps, one could say “zero-orange Underfell”: there’s practically no orange, and when yellow and green does appear (largely from Flowey) they’re dull shades. By Waterfall, the colors get richer, along with a general jump in art quality.  
Flowey, as is common for Underfell, is broadly “good” rather than “evil”, but his characterization here is pleasantly close to his canon one nonetheless: he’s grumpy and cynical and prone to getting frustrated with Frisk.

* * *

## AbsoluteDream ([Over the Void](https://undertale-over-the-void.tumblr.com/))

**Description**

After the events of Undertale, Frisk, Asriel, and Monster Kid find a secret room in Waterfall while visiting their old home in Mount Ebott. The room contained a mysterious mirror. Venturing through the mirror, they find themselves in an alternate reality where monsters were never sealed underground…but can they ever get back to their own reality?

**Review**

It’s just par for the course for the acclaimed AbsoluteDream: his art will blow your socks off, figuratively speaking. _Over the Void_’s art excels in virtually every aspect of comic-making; its flaws are so rare and minor I don’t think anyone not as thorough and critical as me would even notice them (or call them such). If one wasn’t wowed enough, Over the Void occasionally even has stunningly crisp animated panels.  
Characters’ distinct personalities shine out through facial expressions, body movements, and dialogue. While the plot hasn’t developed much only two chapters (and 76 pages!) in, the build-up is nonetheless intriguing.

* * *

## Coffeelemental ([The Anomaly](https://anomalouscomic.tumblr.com/index))

**Description**

Frisk’s personal control of the timeline is used to ensure monsters have a peaceful return to the surface world – but the seven who sealed them underground in the first place have some problems with this.

**Review**

_(Note: Frisk is a “she” in this work, for those who don’t like that.)_ _The Anomaly_, by Coffeelemental, is simultaneously the “Saturday Morning Cartoon of Undertale sequels” and the Sistine Chapel of Undertale fan comics in its tone, dedication, polish and detail.

Though its time-travel element and time-skip might seem like a risk to a simple plot, it nonetheless keeps the plot a perfect medium between complexity and simplicity.  
While some of _The Anomaly_’s themes (e.g., “With great power [over time] comes great responsibility”) are pretty common in _Undertale_ works with a Frisk-based, Post-Pacifist timeline premise, _The Anomaly_ nonetheless deals with those themes in an interesting way. Characters from the game itself hew closely to their original, nuanced personalities, and its seven human antagonists have remarkable characterization. (derived from the [full review](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/183572840286/why-you-should-read-the-anomaly))


End file.
